ANU threatens police as University of Melbourne ‘Israel should not exist’ protesters slammed
Protesters have been given a Tuesday noon deadline to vacate their pro-Palestine encampment.
Australia’s national university has threatened to call in police unless pro-Palestine encampment protesters relocate, as student protesters in Melbourne were condemned by Labor, the opposition, and Jewish leaders for calling for an end to Israel.
Protesters at the Australian National University have been given until noon on Tuesday to leave after they defied university orders on Monday morning to vacate the site. The university said the encampment posed an “unacceptable risk” because the current site was an emergency assembly area and an alternate site “had not worked”.
The protesters defied the orders and issued a call-out for help, which was met by hundreds of students, unionists, advocates, and politicians who flocked to the Canberra campus to join the sit-in.
More than a dozen police officers watched as students barricaded themselves within the encampment on the Kambri lawns, in the middle of campus, and sat linking arms. Some protesters were seen scrawling the phone numbers of lawyers on their arms.
“ANU is working with ACT Policing to ensure the safe removal of people from the current encampment,” a university spokesman said on Monday afternoon.
“Participants have until 12pm AEST tomorrow, Tuesday May 28 2024, to leave the encampment to ensure the safe clearing of the encampment.
“The university expects encampment participants to follow directions from police. Police directions are enforceable under law.”
The protesters on Monday afternoon declared they “defeated the attempt to move us today” and called a rally at 10.30am on Tuesday to “defend the ANU Gaza encampment”, which has been there for about a month.
Separately, pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Melbourne – who were recently in a similar stand-off with their university as they occupied a campus building – have attracted widespread criticism for calling for an end to Israel.
Education Minister Jason Clare condemned their statement, saying it was “repugnant and anti-Semitic”.
The unimelbforpalestine Instagram account on Monday shared with its 20,000 followers a post that said “calls need to emphasise that Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist”.
The protesters on Monday morning shared a post from Palestinian-American blogger Mariam Barghouti, who claimed on social media that “Israel has lost all legitimacy … No more simple calls for the end of bombs, no more calls to ceasefire. The calls need to emphasise that Israel cannot, will not, and should not exist”.
The University of Melbourne protesters’ account chose to share specifically the frame that called for the end of the Jewish state.
The inflammatory comment came days after the protesters claimed victory against the University of Melbourne following their 10-day occupation of the Arts West building on campus. The activists ended their sit-in after the university last Thursday committed to be more transparent in its research, apparently following protesters’ demand that the university disclose and cease research partnerships with weapons manufacturers.
Mr Clare, when contacted by The Australian, said of the comment: “it’s repugnant and anti-Semitic. There is no place for anti-Semitism on our university campuses or anywhere else.
“Universities should be enforcing … student codes of conduct.”
Opposition education spokesman Sarah Henderson said the “University of Melbourne’s capitulation to protesters has only emboldened the anti-Semitic hate and incitement on campus”.
“That the university is not adopting a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Semitism is a shocking reflection on the Albanese government and Education Minister Jason Clare.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the students were a “stain on our education system” and said this showed they were “dropping any pretence to seeking peace and now openly aligning with the genocidal aims of Hamas”.
Zionism Victoria president Yossi Goldfarb said the statement by “civic terrorists” was a product of “weak leadership in our parliaments and on our campuses”.
The University of Melbourne declined to comment.
When approached for comment, the unimelbforpalestine Instagram page did not respond specifically to the criticism.
More Coverage
Students to review ANU’s portfolio
The Australian National University has invited students to a working group to review the university’s investment policy, amid a still-ongoing pro-Palestine camp pitched on its campus.
Uni’s ‘campus occupiers’ face discipline probe
Pro-Palestinian student activists who occupied parts of the Melbourne University campus in May may escape with a warning as a disciplinary hearing determines their academic future.